Life Without Plastic Blog

Finally! A Thermal Lunch Box with a Stainless Steel Lid

We are very excited to introduce our new double wall vacuum hot meal lunch box with a lid that has a stainless steel interior, so no plastic is ever in touch with your hot food. The capacity is 2 cups (500 ml), so that's plenty of space for a hearty meal. As far as we know this is the only one of its kind in the market. The outside of the lid as well as the bottom of the container is made of polypropylene (#5). The rest is all high quality food grade stainless steel 304 (18-8).

We have been looking all over for a container that could allow our son to eat a hot meal at school. We did not like the idea of pouring hot food in a thermos container that has a plastic lid because heat increases leaching from the plastic considerably. We liked even less the idea of our son microwaving his food in a plastic container -- schools do not generally allow children to bring glass containers. At last, we found the perfect solution.

This container is made in Taiwan which is a democratic country now known for the high quality of its products. I remember when I was a child, the cheap toys were all "MADE IN TAIWAN", but in the past 15 years, most of the factories have moved from Taiwan to China, leaving only the higher quality manufacturers in the country. They are the only ones that could afford the higher wages that Taiwanese workers legitimately demand. We are very proud of this product and of where it comes from. I have met the owners and their work team and I was very impressed with their commitment to a good working environment for their employees as well as high quality products.

Please visit our website to take a look: http://lifewithoutplastic.com/boutique/stainless-steel-meal-container-p-333.html.

- Chantal

Plastic -- A Key Ingredient to Product Obsolescence

Have you seen The Story of Stuff? It is a powerful website with a very simple message about reducing our consumption. One part that struck me the most is when Annie Leonard talks about how obsolescence is purposely inserted into the design of products so that they break quickly and you have to buy a new one within a few years. Remember your grand-mother's blender that would not break, or that heavy fridge that lasted forever? Soon corporations realized that it was not a good long term strategy to build products to last, they needed their customers to keep buying. There needed to be some weaker parts inserted into the design to make the product break after a set number of years, thereby re-starting the consumption wheel.  Plastic plays that role... The part that breaks first is almost always plastic. Cars used to be made of steel. You could fix the bumper with a hammer if you got into an accident. Not anymore. Now most car parts are made of plastic, so you have to replace the whole part with a new one. Can't fix it with a hammer anymore.  We recently bought a little metal pedal tractor for our son.  We thought that because it is made of metal  it would last a long time. Not so... there was just two tiny pieces of the whole tractor that were made of plastic and they arrived already broken.  We had to call the company for a replacement. There, right in front of our eyes, the proof that obsolescence had been planted into this toy. So discouraging.

- Chantal